1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to protective devices for medical instruments. In particular, it relates to a protective device for covering the distal end of an endoscope.
2. Prior Art
Endoscopes are medical instruments which enable a relatively non-intrusive visual inspection of and treatment of internal body tissues. One common use for such endoscope is to visually inspect body tissue associated with the digestive track. Typically, an endoscope includes a long flexible tubular member which is inserted into the body and extended to the area of the body to be analyzed. The tubular insertion member of the endoscope generally contains optical fibers for carrying light energy into the patient and for carrying organized visual information out of the patient. The member may also include an elongated lumen for inserting therapeutic instruments into the patient, for example, to biopsy portions of the digestive track.
The operating distal end of the endoscope, which is generally inserted into the body and which is controlled by the endoscopist, is generally quite fragile. This end is usually constructed of lenses of glass-like material which can be easily broken during cleaning of the endoscope, while drying the endoscope after cleaning or while the endoscope is being stored.
Each time an endoscope is used, it must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. As a result of the necessity of such disinfection, a number of protective covers have been designed to cover endoscopes. Generally, these protective covers are quite thin and are designed to be attached over the endoscope and remain attached to the endoscope after insertion into the patient during the procedure. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,049 discloses a thin medical instrument cover, tubular in shape and open at each end, designed to cover an endoscope. A similar sheath made of a thin, flexible material such as rubber is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,001. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,722, 5,228,851 and 5,237,984. In addition to sheaths for covering the distal end of an endoscope, there has also been disclosed thin, draping mechanisms for covering medical instruments including, specifically, endoscopes. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,325,846, 4,522,196, 5,337,731 and 5,168,863.
Each of these protective covers for endoscopes must be quite thin and pliable so they can fit over the endoscope with close tolerances and still be inserted into the patient without causing trauma to the patient. While these devices are quite useful to protect the distal end of the endoscope while it is being used within a patient, they are not designed to protect the endoscope after it has been cleaned or when it is in storage.
Thus, there is a need for a device which will cover the fragile, distal end of the endoscope, both while it is drying after being disinfected and while it is in storage.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to disclose a protective cover for use in the storage of endoscopes.
It is a further object of this invention to disclose a protective cover for use in the storage of endoscopes which can also be used to check the lighting for the endoscope prior to its use.
It is a still further object of this invention to disclose a protective covering for use in the storage of endoscopes which is both easy to use and inexpensive to produce.
These and other objects can be obtained by the disclosed design for a cover for use in the storage of endoscopes.